Top brass 'present at abuse'

2004-05-23 14:18

Washington - The top US military commander in Iraq may have been president during some interrogations at Abu Ghraib prison when alleged abuses of prisoners occurred, The Washington Post reported on its website on Saturday.

Citing a recording of a military hearing, the newspaper said a military lawyer for a soldier charged in the Abu Ghraib abuse case testified that a captain at the Baghdad prison said Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez was present during some "interrogations and/or allegations of the prisoner abuse".

The lawyer said he was told Sanchez and other senior military officers were aware of what was taking place on Tier 1A of Abu Ghraib, according to the report.

The lawyer, Captain Robert Shuck, also said a sergeant at the prison was prepared to testify that intelligence officers told him the abuse of detainees on the cellblock was "the right thing to do", The Post said.

Shuck is defending Staff Sergeant Ivan Frederick of the 372nd Military Police Company, who is facing court-martial in the abuse case.

During an April 2 hearing that was open to the public, Shuck said the company commander, Captain Donald Reese, was prepared to testify in exchange for immunity, according to the report.

According to the recording Shuck was questioned by a military prosecutor about his statement.

"Are you saying that Captain Reese is going to testify that General Sanchez was there and saw this going on?" The Post quoted Captain John McCabe, the prosecutor, as saying.

"That's what he told me," Shuck is said to have responded. "I am an officer of the court, sir, and I would not lie. I have got two children at home. I'm not going to risk my career."

A defence department spokesperson referred questions about Sanchez to US military officials in the Middle East, cautioning that statements by defence lawyers or their clients should be treated with "appropriate caution", the paper said.

It quoted Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the US military spokesperson in Iraq, as saying Sanchez was unavailable for comment but would "enjoy the opportunity" to respond later.

At the April hearing held at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Shuck also said Reese would testify that Captain Carolyn Wood, who supervised the military intelligence operation at Abu Ghraib, was "involved in intensive interrogations of detainees, condoned some of the activities and stressed that that was standard procedure, what the accused was doing", The Post said.

Speaking at a Senate hearing last week, Sanchez said he was taking full responsibility for what happened at Abu Ghraib. But he denied any prior knowledge of the abuses.

- AFP